Given just how deceitful car dealerships can be, it’s understandable that a growing number of people are looking for ways to circumvent the dealership system altogether.
One method that’s become popular is using an online car dealership called Carvana. This platform for buying and selling used cars has a user-friendly interface and straightforward pricing, leading many to believe that the process of buying a car from the site will be easier than going to a dealership.
However, this isn’t always the case, as one internet user recently learned.
What went wrong with this man’s Carvana transaction?
In a video with over 111,000 views, Maryland-based TikTok user Nick Doty (@nldoty) explains why he says to “not ever buy a car from Carvana.”
According to Doty, his wife is a current owner of a Tesla Model Y, but isn’t the biggest fan of it. Instead, she wanted to replace it with a Ford Mustang Mach-E. Given that the couple has a 6-month-old baby, they thought the best way to do this would be to use Carvana.
From the outset, issues arose.
“As we started to go through the purchase process, only my name appeared on any of the documents. Because Carvana didn’t give me an option to add my wife as a co-buyer either on the title or the registration,” Doty explains.
As Doty notes, this was bound to cause problems as the Tesla they were trading in was in his wife’s name. But when Doty asked Carvana to adjust the documents to include his wife as a co-buyer, the company claimed their dealer’s license didn’t allow it.
“What dealership doesn’t have the option to put two names on a title or registration?” he asks, noting that he had to talk to three people to discover this. “I have never seen that in my life.”
Would power of attorney solve the problem?
To navigate the issue, Doty suggested using a notarized power of attorney form, allowing him to act on his wife’s behalf while she stayed home with their baby. Carvana refused, citing an internal policy of only accepting such forms from active-duty military members.
“I explained to them that that’s not how power of attorney forms work,” Doty says. “It’s not like there’s a special one for military members. That’s just the only type they choose to accept.”
In response, Carvana said that Doty and his wife could go to the DMV to re-title the Tesla in his name, or they could get the new car re-titled with both of their names. Neither of these options appealed to Doty, as both required him to make trips he was trying to avoid. And, as Doty says, he had already paid Carvana to perform these services.
“Why am I having to do all the hard work here when I’m paying for this service?” Doty asks.
Finally, Doty asked if, given all the work that they were requiring him to do just to get his car, Carvana could simply waive the $490 delivery fee. The company informed him that they couldn’t.
“I said, ‘Can’t or won’t?’” he starts. “I can at least understand the dealer’s license thing…but you can’t take $490 off the price of the car? No, you’re choosing not to take $490 off the price of the car. That’s not a ‘can’t.’ That’s a ‘won’t.’”
All this extra effort, he says, defeated the point of using Carvana over a dealership.
“The whole reason we went through this process was to avoid the dealership and their asinine rules,” Doty details. Finding that Carvana has its issues, Doty urges others to “never buy a vehicle from Carvana,” comparing the experience to “yanking out fingernails.”
In a follow-up video, Doty revealed that they walked away from the deal but were still having trouble getting their initial shipping charge back.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Carvana via email regarding their refund policy, their policy on co-ownership in the state of Maryland, and other specifics about Doty’s story.
Other Carvana woes
Doty isn’t the first to share his story about having issues while using the Carvana platform.
For example, one internet user claimed that Carvana undervalued her car by over $6,000. Another claimed that her car purchased from Carvana had its glove compartment filled with water after a rainstorm, while a further internet user alleged that the company neglected to mention a series of issues with her car.
@nldoty Thanks @Carvana great customer service! #sarcasm #fyp #foryoupage #fypシ #cars #carvana #carvanaexperience #dc #dmv #carsoftiktok #cartok ♬ original sound – Nick
What do other people have to say?
In the comments section, users shared their negative experiences with Carvana.
“I haven’t heard of one person who has not had a problem with carvana,” wrote a user.
“I feel like not enough people know that carvana got in trouble for selling stolen cars a few years back,” another wrote, referencing cases in which the company allegedly sold drivers stolen vehicles.
“Jeep got crushed in a tornado, had to get a car asap as a single person, and used them,” wrote a user. “Okay until the day-of they ghosted me when I asked why certain features advertised weren’t actually installed.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Doty via Instagram and TikTok comment.
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